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Day 85 to 86 - Prague (25th June to 26th June)

Prague..... wow... that's all I can say. It's an amazing place. Stunning architecture, lovely little old town squares, beautiful people.... if it wasn't for all the idiots on stag do's it would be almost perfect.

Rich and I were laughing pretty much the whole time we were away. It was great fun and excellent to be able to travel with someone who I have such a laugh with. The flight over was fine, nothing special... Swiss Air is pretty good although they definitely win the most boring sandwiches imaginable competition on the flight.

"Hi, so you're telling me that for lunch it's a choice between a soggy slice of turkey on a damp roll or a soggy piece of cheese on a damp roll.... any garnish at all?"

The chef's brief read like this: So, we'd like you to have the freedom to be creative in your sandwich selection for our passengers... You can create any sandwich you like as long as it only has one ingredient... So, go wild my friend...

Anyway, it was a breeze to get from the airport to our hotel which is always a bonus. We met a girl from Brazil on the bus and we got chatting to her... she said she spoke Spanish too which I think was a bit of a lie because when I spoke to her in Spanish, she apparently didn't understand what I was saying.... Ok, so it could have been a problem with my grasp of the language... but it's unlikely.. honest.

Our hotel was ok, decent enough and clean. I think it may have been a theme hotel though as the decor screamed out to me 'Echoes of Communism'. Also, the reception staff had the personalities of beaten down planks. Still, it was just a place to sleep and I was never intending on becoming best buddies with the hotel staff.

I decided to take a few precautions with my possesions as I brought with me a few electronics like my video camera, digital camera, PSP etc. So I put everything in my case and used Rich's padlock to lock it. I then slid the case back into the wardrobe, turned to Rich and said....

"So I did give you the padlock key back right?"

To which Rich's blank expression was all the reply I required.... errr... bugger... first cock up of the trip counts against Andy.... Great.

We decided to head out for a few beers and some food. Went to a couple of bars and quickly realised that prices weren't as cheap as we expected. Prague's gone through a bit of a change in terms of prices for things. While it's still cheaper than London, it's still more than you'd expect for beer and food.

We ended up going to a bar just off the main thoroughfare of Wenceslas Square. Rich and I quickly noted the interesting choice of hairstyle that some of the Czech ladies posessed. It's kind of like they went into the salon and said:

"Hey, so i've got 100 koruna for the 200 koruna haircut I want, can I get one side done now with that and i'll come back in a couple of weeks with the other 100 koruna to get the other side done..."

Very odd, long one side and short the other. Interesting...

We found ourselves at the entrance to a club. I asked what was going on and the bouncer said that it was a Depeche Mode after party. Depeche Mode had been playing in Prague that night apparently. The conversation kind of went like this:

Me: "Hi, what's everyone waiting for?"

Large guy with stoney eyes like a killer and no hair playing the part of the bouncer: "It's a Depeche Mode after party."

Me: "Really, did Depeche Mode play in Prague tonight?"

Killer Bouncer: "Yes."

Me: "So what time are they showing up for the after party."

Killer Bouncer: "No band, just music."

Me: "So, you're telling me that it's an aftershow party for a band that aren't going to be here."

KB: "Yes."

Me: "So have all these people been to the gig tonight and now they're coming here to pay more money to listen to the same songs."

KB: "Yes, for you and your friend 200 Koruna each because you can only get in with special vip ticket..."

Anyway, he said to me that because of the CCTV cameras we would need to pass him the money to him in a special handshake...

We decided to go in as it was about £6 each. So I went ahead and did the special handshake with my 200 koruna. I got in after being stamped on the hand and Rich got in after me. Rich then gave me 200 koruna. I asked what that was for, he said entrance fee.... Ooops. It turns out the Rich thought I'd paid for him, the bouncer didn't check how much I gave him because of the cameras and we'd actually only paid 100 koruna each. Nice one. Apart from the fear of having the Czech mafia after us for £6 it was a result.

We got in there and there were black t-shirts for as far as the eye could see. They really did play Depeche Mode all night. I didn't think there were that many Depeche Mode songs.

Anyway, we had a few and then headed back to the prison... errr... hotel.

Next day we went for a stroll around town. I asked at reception if they could get me some tools to open the padlock on the case as the key had not turned up... I bloody packed it in there i'm sure of it but I still haven't found it even now i'm back with an empty case.... Odd. Anyway, they didn't have anything until the maintenance guy got there that afternoon so we asked if he could go up and sort it when he got in. We ended up walking down to the Danube, over the bridge and back into the old town Square. Then we committed the ultimate Brit abroad crime and went to an Irish Bar for a few beers. That's where we met Steve and Elaine.

Great people and such a laugh. We were sat on a table outside taking the piss out of the people walking by... you know, making up stories about their lives etc.. he's a sex tourist (about the old guy with the younger girl holding hands).... she's got the Prague haircut (about lopsided lilly).... etc etc

Then this girl walked past with the tightest leather trousers on I'd ever seen... so I started making a squeaking noise, Steve and Elaine started laughing, it turns out they were doing the same as us... and we ended up chatting for the rest of the afternoon.

We caught up with them that evening and went to a bar that had been recommended to us. It was a fun night.... The place was interesting though... lots of people sharing toilet cubicles, a heavy smell of herbs emanating about the place and lots of locals enjoying themselves. A good night was had by all.

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